"Sister" mountains

[riverc0il]

I don't know. Aside from Master, Red/blacklines (none of which I had the balls to ski the time I went there), I didn't find any of the other terrain at Magic all that much more difficult than some of the harder stuff I skied at Beast. I guess Goniff (with its pretty steep, double falline) and the icey access to it (via Witch?) qualifies as tougher than Beast terrain, but aside from those trails, I think they are pretty comparable from a technical standpoint. Sure, Magic has more vert so it's going to ski "bigger" but I think the Beast delivers to nat-trail lovers like no other SNE ski area. I guess, put it this way - Beast is about as close to NNE skiing as it gets in SNE.

so aside from four of the toughest trails in southern new england (and i would put master and red line up against comperable trails any where in new england), they are comperable? the more i think about it, the more i find myself disagreeing.

comparing trails , it just doesn't add up. let's look at magic natural snow expert trails: twilight, goniff, witch, lucifer, red line, master, heart, sorcerer, slide, talisman, and black line. ten natural snow expert runs with great pitch on all but heart and twilight (eh, i'll even say slide is kinda mellow despite the bumps and rolls). that is almost a third of magic's terrain. i can't compare the glades because i haven't skied them at beast, but i have hit all of beasts non-glade diamonds between my two visits there and magic's expert terrain is definitely much steeper and more sustained. look how they pair up trail for trail outside the glades: red line vs lift line, lucifer vs flying cloud, talisman vs competition, slide vs jug, heart vs minnie, sorcerer vs umass. trail by trail, i don't really see a comparison. i can't compare the glades but i think goniff vs beast and twilight vs tomahawk likely would favor magic, but that is speculation only since i haven't skied beasts glades. and we haven't even touched master, witch, and black line. even when you start lining up blues and greens trail by trail, i just don't see it as comperable. outside of four or five more technically demanding trails... sure, there isn't anything more technical than the beast. but the quantity of the quality at magic is overwhelming with more sustained pitch in addition.

a better comparison for beast might be ragged mountain. both work very hard in a competitive market slightly off the highway en route to the larger destinations to attract family to a freindly mid-sized area. ragged sports a few wikked good glades and some really cool mellow natural snow trails, and one really interesting steep pitch. lots of great fall line cruising on open slopes with some mellow wrap arounds and a phenomenal learn to ski area. both have really great lodges and are similar in price and terrain, though i definitely give beast the edge for terrain as ragged does not have quite as much sustained steeps, but they aren't far off.

 

[Greg]

so aside from four of the toughest trails in southern new england (and i would put master and red line up against comperable trails any where in new england), they are comperable? the more i think about it, the more i find myself disagreeing.

comparing trails , it just doesn't add up. let's look at magic natural snow expert trails: twilight, goniff, witch, lucifer, red line, master, heart, sorcerer, slide, talisman, and black line. ten natural snow expert runs with great pitch on all but heart and twilight (eh, i'll even say slide is kinda mellow despite the bumps and rolls). that is almost a third of magic's terrain. i can't compare the glades because i haven't skied them at beast, but i have hit all of beasts non-glade diamonds between my two visits there and magic's expert terrain is definitely much steeper and more sustained. look how they pair up trail for trail outside the glades: red line vs lift line, lucifer vs flying cloud, talisman vs competition, slide vs jug, heart vs minnie, sorcerer vs umass. trail by trail, i don't really see a comparison. i can't compare the glades but i think goniff vs beast and twilight vs tomahawk likely would favor magic, but that is speculation only since i haven't skied beasts glades. and we haven't even touched master, witch, and black line. even when you start lining up blues and greens trail by trail, i just don't see it as comperable. outside of four or five more technically demanding trails... sure, there isn't anything more technical than the beast. but the quantity of the quality at magic is overwhelming with more sustained pitch in addition.

Well, if you want to try and do trail by trail comparisons, you're right. you'll likely not be able to find any "sister" mountains. My feeling is that the single blacks at Magic (trails like Heart, Sourceror, Talisman and Slide) ski very much like UMASS, Grizzley, Minnie Dole, Flying Cloud and Jug. In my first post here, I simply stated they had a similar vibe; at least the one time I skied Magic as compared to the some of the better days I've had at the Beast.

 

[JimG.]

beast is by far the best mountain in the east south of magic without a doubt in my mind, i just can't put them side by side for comparison.

Huh? Berkshire East is the best mountain in the East south of Magic? By far?

I don't think so. Both Hunter and especially Plattekill put it to shame.

 

[ChileMass]

Ascutney and Bolton Valley. Both family-oriented, mid-size, out of the way, and worth investigating.

 

[SkiDork]

Every time I look at the title of this thread, I think of the song "Sister Disco" by the Who

 

[shwilly]

Huh? Berkshire East is the best mountain in the East south of Magic? By far?

I don't think so. Both Hunter and especially Plattekill put it to shame.

He said "in the East," not "the Deep South." ;-)

 

[riverc0il]

Huh? Berkshire East is the best mountain in the East south of Magic? By far?

I don't think so. Both Hunter and especially Plattekill put it to shame.

my bad jim, i thought hunter and plattekill were further north than that. lets say new england instead of the east.

 

[JimG.]

my bad jim, i thought hunter and plattekill were further north than that. lets say new england instead of the east.

That works.

2 geography geeks here folks.

 

[from_the_NEK]

I've heard comparisons of Magic to Burke as well. However, it sounds as though Magic has more high level "Expert" terrain. Outside of a few trails and glades Burke would be more of a high level "intermediate" mountain.

 

[riverc0il]

I've heard comparisons of Magic to Burke as well. However, it sounds as though Magic has more high level "Expert" terrain. Outside of a few trails and glades Burke would be more of a high level "intermediate" mountain.

burke kills magic on glades and high speed cruising, but i can see where people would make the comparison between two no frills skiers mountains with slow top to bottom lifts, laid back atmosphere, and non-crowded environment. magic definitely has much more challenging non-gladed terrain. red line makes fox's folly look like a joke and trails like master, slide, and sorcerer blow trails like wilderness, doug's, and ledges away. burke has more reliable snow though and better blue square natural trails. hard to compare the two now with a HSQ and ginn resort developing. burke blows magic's customer service, grooming, and snow making away too. overall, i would have to give burke a slight edge for fun but outside of the glade's, magic definitely challenges more overall.